TRAVEL LIGHT

Jose can you see

I don’t hate the American people. I only hate Americans who belong to the stupid, ignorant and arrogant species. Topping the list is the idiot sitting in the White House while the rest are scattered elsewhere in the world waging war killing people or learning about geography and lessons on culture which they don’t have.

A lot of these species are found in the Philippines, some raping our women but can’t be arrested by our government. There’s another one, quite a full mature breed of this species, who landed in jail in Davao City because he thinks that being American is a license to insult anybody. This asshole insulted a young Moro woman in public and bragging that, “I’m a New Yorker! I remember 9-11 and all that! Go tell your husband and Muslims! We have guns you know! We could kill you all! Bring Osama bin Laden! We’ve been looking for him!” Read the whole story about this stupid American here.

Meanwhile in Sulu, local village folks recovered what seemed to be an RQ-11 Raven , an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) used by American troops for real-time reconnaisance on enemy locations. Interviewed on TV, an American GI confirmed that it is indeed a UAV but didn’t elaborate on why it was flying the friendly skies of Sulu. Proudly he just reiterated that the objectives of the American forces in Sulu are only to conduct socio-civic actions, like building or repairing roads and other infrastructures and also conducting medical missions. If that is so, what on earth is the UAV spyplane doing, looking for someone that needs medical attention?

Jose can you see, by the dawn’s early light…

Home is one’s birthplace, ratified by memory.

Iligan City like any other urban center had undergone major facelift. Unlike most European Cities where old structures are renovated and preserved, in our country urban facelifting means completely tearing down old structures and replacing it with ubiquitous modern buildings.

Through the years amidst the transformation of the city landscape, the humble St. Anthony’s Maternity Clinic in Iligan City has stood its ground. While the housepaint may change color every now and then yet its old wooden structure and quaint architecture remains in its original state. The clinic stands out preserved even as it is now dwarfed and shadowed by new buildings surrounding it.

The Clinic might not get the privilege of being preserved and cited as a historical landmark, but it holds a special place in my heart. It is here where I and three of my brothers were born. I hope it will continue to stand the test of time. I no longer live in Iligan City and I hope that someday when my children visits my birthplace they can still get a glimpse of the very place where I was born.

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photo source: http://www.iligan.us/

Not once but twice

My alma mater, the Mindanao State University (MSU) has never been free from political manipulation and control by those who hold power. Its mandate as an academic institution is always compromised by accomodations of vested political interests.

The term of office of the incumbent MSU President ends this month. Months ago, a search committee composed of academicians had been established to screen and process the selection of the next MSU President. Unfortunately, none of those shortlisted by the search committee, all highly qualified for the position, all competent academicians and alumni of MSU, fit Malacanang’s preference.

Instead, Malacanang has appointed Gen. Ricardo de Leon, recently retired Deputy Director General of the Philippine National Police, as MSU OIC President. Malacanang said that De Leon’s appointment is “temporary” and is intended only to cleanse MSU of alleged corruption and pave the transition for the next MSU President. When this temporary status will end only Malacanang knows.

There are no other educational institutions in our country where Generals have been appointed to the position of President. Malacanang has done this to MSU not only once but twice. Immediately after the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship, Malacanang appointed a General as MSU’s OIC President. Now, another General will take the helm of Mindanao’s premiere academic institution.

Malacanang has a weird way of carrying out a transition to MSU’s presidency. Until they find an able stooge, they pass the leadership of this academic institution to military officials. One can never find a classic example of militarizing an academic institution than this perverted practice.

Even if one has to believe in the rationale of cleansing corruption in the MSU system, appointing a General does not fit the equation. It is simply ridiculous, unless the university charter is changed and MSU is transformed into a new military academy. Cleansing corruption in an educational institution can be done by any qualified, competent academician. Why give the task of ridding corruption to someone coming from an institution which is itself riddled with graft and corruption?

Political appointments to key positions in the bureaucracy is Government’s prerogative. Everyone knows that this practice is meant to maintain control and perpetuate patronage politics and not for any other reason. Extending such practice to institutions of learning not only strengthens corruption in the system but corrupts the minds of the youth in whom we place our country’s future.

MSU On My Mind

Today is the 44th founding anniversary of my Alma Mater, the Mindanao State University (MSU).

Created under RA 1387 as amended through authorship of Senator Domocao A. Alonto, the Mindanao State University was established in Marawi City on September 1, 1961. Dr. Antonio Isidro, former Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of the Philippines, was its founder and first president.

Formal classes opened in June 1962 with 282 students, 19 faculty members and staff, and three core colleges: Community Development, Liberal Arts and Education.

After more than three decades of operation, the University has grown into a multi-campus University System with seventeen colleges and degree-granting units in the Marawi campus alone.

I consider MSU Marawi City as my second home. I practically grew up in the campus. It is there where I passed my coming of age. It is there where I got not only my elementary, high school and College education but also a greater education about life, on simple living and hard struggles.

Life in MSU is so simple but so beautiful. Whenever I take a stroll down memory lane, my first destination is always MSU. Whenever I see a place endowed with the beauty of nature, I remember MSU. Its cool climate is comparable to the climate of Baguio. In the midst of a wartorn land, MSU remains a sanctuary of peace, a place of bliss. Students of different faiths, having different social status and coming from different places live together in a campus far from the vestiges and profligacy of urban lifestyle. They are bonded together by a simple, almost ascetic, lifestyle. A common experience shared with pride by all MSUans.

To compare MSU with other academic institutions would be like comparing apples to oranges. MSU has a unique identity of its own. An identity known by those whose lives she had touched and intellect she had helped nourished.

To my Alma Mater and to all MSUans, happy foundation day.

Mindanaw Travelogue II

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